Flutterwave’s troubles in Kenya yet to end as second case proceeds

Flutterwave, Africa’s most valuable unicorn, has yet to succeed in Kenya. About $3 million of that money, seized in a second government seizure over money laundering and fraud allegations, was held in two banks and 19 mobile money accounts as the matter is before the Kenyan High Court. (M-pesa billing number) remains frozen.

The seizure of $3 million in funds occurred at the end of August last year when a Kenyan court seized $52.5 million from Flutterwave and other entities, including Elivalat Fintech, Boxtrip travel and tours, Bagtrip travels, Hupesi Solutions, Cruz Ride Auto Ltd and Adguru. It’s been less than two months since we froze the dollar.

Each seizure was followed by a lawsuit filed by the country’s Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), which is responsible for tracking criminal proceeds.

The first lawsuit closed last week, releasing $52.5 million after ARA formally dropped the case. High Court Judge Esther Maina yesterday set the next mention for March 23rd.

Some officials predict the case is unlikely to proceed to a full trial, but Flutterwave has remained unclear in court and is on track to obtain a license to operate in Kenya. I’m late.

what happened so far

Funds released after fthe first case closes But Flutterwave is still frozen

The court released the funds belonging to Flutterwave and its accomplices after the ARA formally withdrew its forfeiture petitions against them all on February 27, 2018, closing the first lawsuit.

But TechCrunch is savvy with information that a Kenyan court released the funds after the initial lawsuit was closed, but that fintechs had not accessed the funds by Friday. The reason for this was not immediately clear, and efforts to get comment from Flutterwave on this have been unsuccessful.

The release of the funds comes after a Kenyan court earlier in February rejected an application by 2,468 Nigerians to divide some of the frozen funds if they were confiscated by the government. I was. Individuals have attempted to recover lost funds by “investing” through a sports betting platform, which they claim is a bogus investment and trading scheme that uses Flutterwave to process payments.

On February 9, the court dismissed the application on the grounds that the ARA filed to withdraw its forfeiture application last December, nearly a month after it applied to have Boxtrip Travel and Tours and Bagtrip Travels removed from the proceedings. rejected.

genesis

Flutterwave’s predicament in Kenya began last July when it was accused of fraud and money laundering by the ARA, freezing multi-million dollar accounts linked to fintech and its accomplices.

The agency said Flutterwave’s bank accounts were being used as a conduit for money laundering under the guise of providing merchant services, and that fintech had no evidence to support retail transactions from customers paying for goods and services. said. It added that the alleged merchant had no evidence of a settlement. The agency has petitioned the court to confiscate the money from the government.

However, after the new government took office late last year, there was a turnaround and several high-profile cases, including those against Flutterwave, were dropped.

Founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga “GB” Agboola (CEO), and Adeleke Adekoya, Flutterwave facilitates cross-border payments in Africa, allowing users to send money to and from the continent to payees. We provide a money transfer service to Its services also include his Flutterwavestore service, a Shopify-like e-commerce platform for small businesses.

Fintech, which raised $350 million last year at a $3 billion valuation, has become one of Africa’s most valuable start-ups, but has been plagued with harassment, misappropriation of funds and allegations of mismanagement. , faced a series of controversies last year.